Episode 1 - Living In Manhattan
by PottERstarkid
Summary: Grace Henderson thought she had it all. But one day her life turnes around and leaves her to fall into advetures with an extra-terrestrial stranger... Episode 1. Rated T for language. Please review for episode 2 !
1. Part 1

**Living in Manhattan.**

For Grace, life had been a blessing. Not only had she been raised in New York but she was also with the man of her dreams, doing the job she loved and living her life to the full. She wasn't too rich or too poor; every part of her was real, even her perfectly straight nose. The only part of her that she wasn't real was her hair colour. She had dyed it from the bright orange of her youth and settled with a dark blonde. Her light green eyes matched those of her mothers and her slim figure was the new addition to the recovery of her last heart break. Her previous boyfriend (who shall remain unnamed) treated her like she was a pile of shit on the floor. He had walked all over her and made her feel useless for months. A year after she finally escaped his nagging grasp, she had met Michael. Oh Michael, with his sandy hair and blue eyes. She had fallen for him like he was the keys to the largest collection of Sherlock Holmes books. She knew this was real and that the kind, loving, gentle Michael would do nothing to hurt her. Or so she thought. Grace remembered that day well. The day her life crashed before her eyes.

'We're moving you to the Wednesday Colum.' Her boss at her magazine had told her.

'The Wednesday Colum?' She repeated in a horrified voice. 'But nobody reads it! It's a waste of time!'

'We've been talking and we all agreed that you will suite the post better than your current position.' Her boss said over his cluttered desk.

'So you're taking me from being the head writer of this entire freaking magazine and demoting me to the History Colum?' She said the words carefully to get the message across to her boss.

'Like I said, we all agree on this decision.'

'I bet it was Tracey's decision!' Grace snapped. 'That bitch has been on my case for months!'

'Continue with your rage and you won't have any job at all.' Her boss said sternly. Feeling like a scolded kid Grace walked out of the bosses' office and through the large, low ceilinged, blue carpeted office of the magazines editing room. Heads turned to see Grace walking in her tall black heels and new black suite down the aisles of cubicles where the inhabitants were typing away at their computers.

Demoted and raging, Grace sat in her car and screamed in anger. She slammed her hands down on the steering wheel and jumped a mile when the horn rang. She composed herself and drove home early. Craving a coffee and a cuddle with Michael, she drove through Manhattans busy streets in a hurry. Scowling at the pink convertible parked in her space, she crawled out of her car and up the marble steps to her apartment. She knew there was something wrong when she approached the green painted door. The noise was slightly familiar to her. A creaking of sorts. A frown hit her when she wondered what it was. Opening the door and gasping in horror to see through the crack in her bedroom door that Michael was shagging another woman. In _her_ bed!

'Michael!' She yelled. He jumped up like a scared puppy. The bitch on his lap turned and scowled at Grace. Ignoring his pleas to make her understand, Grace grabbed a few clothes and made her way out of the house. The bitch got into the pink convertible. Seems obvious when you think about it. Grace drove aimlessly through the darkening streets. Tears falling angrily down her face. She ended up staying at her friend Jerseys house. Sleeping on the couch and crying on her friends shoulder. It wasn't until the following day that her life became completely wrong.

'We'd like you to make a presentation about the next subject you're working on.' Her boss told Grace the next day.

'A-a what?' Grace asked.

'A presentation. About your subject. See, we're over staffed, so we've decided to let some baggage go.'

'Are you saying I'm baggage?' Grace snapped.

'That's what we need to decide.' Boss man said. So that night, curled up on Jerseys couch, Grace wrote her presentation for the following day. Nerves played in her stomach as she ate a piece of toast before making her way to work. She walked through an unfamiliar corridor to get to the room where meetings were held. The room was full when she entered. Managers from all the departments were there. She set up the computer and looked out over the large oval table that held the managers in black suits.

'Good morning gentlemen.' Grace said, doing a quick gender count. 'I'm Grace Henderson, editor of the History Colum. I'm currently writing a Colum on the British writer; Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle.' A hand raised at the back of the room.

'Yes sir?' Grace asked the owner of the hand.

'How much do you know about Conan-Doyle?' A deep, playful voice asked.

'I've _pretty_ much followed his entire story.' Grace replied.

'Enlighten me.' The voice replied. All heads at the table had turned now, exposing the man behind the voice. He was thin with mousey brown hair, his face round with a protruding chin. A grin was spread across his face, giving him the look of a twelve-year-old boy.

'Well, he was born on May 22nd 1859, he was raised in Edinburgh, he derived from a Catholic family and his Dad was called Charles who was a drunk.' Grace took a deep breath. The strangers face had not changed. Grace's eyes moved to observe what he was wearing, upon doing so she concluded that this guy was a total nutter. He wore unlaced boots that surrounded the hem of his trousers, a blouse hidden beneath a tweed jacket and a blue bow-tie around his collar.

'Is that everything?' He probed.

'No.' Grace snapped defensively. 'I know that the first woman he loved was called Louisa Hawkins and-'

'Wrong!' He shouted. His voice wasn't harsh. In fact, it held a hint of amusement. 'The first woman Arthur ever wrote about was called Grace.'

'Well, she's not really important, is she?' Grace lost her formal composure.

'That… is where you are wrong.' The stranger linked his fingers together and rested them on his torso as he leaned back in his chair.

'Is this hardly necessary?' One of the managers at the table said.

'No, it's not.' Grace said. She resumed her explanation and ignored the man at the back. She managed to end her presentation with much admiration from the onlookers. Grace waited for the room to vacate before seeking out the stranger. By the time she looked for his tweed jacket however, he was gone…


	2. Part 2

**Living in Manhattan – part 2**

Grace spent the next few days wondering who the tweed jacket guy was. She checked all her records about Conan-Doyle and checking about the Girl called Grace. They had met when he was young. Seventeen at least. He was training to be a doctor and living in a small apartment. Grace wondered what happened to the girl who had captured the poor man's heart. It was the third day after the article had been published and Grace was disappointed about the results, that her life turned around for good. Everything was falling apart now. She had the horrible task of collecting her stuff from the house where Michael persisted for her to sit at the table and allow him to explain. She told him that she would never love again because of him and left. It was that night, on the way back to her temporary house on Jerseys couch when she saw something in the shadows. It was a figure. Close enough to distinguish but not to see any detail. The shadow noticed her too. The sky was falling into the darkness and the street lamps weren't yet alight. Grace noticed that the figure appeared to be wearing a cloak. A long straight shadow that reached the floor. She was aware that the shadow was staring at her so she moved away and down the nearest alleyway she could find. It was a second after she had turned the corner that she knew it was a bad decision. The alleyway led to a dead-end. Grace spun in one swift move. The dim light from the fading sun was blocked out by a figure of at least six foot tall. Heart racing, Grace made for the wall to the rear of the alleyway. She planned to put as much distance as possible between her and the figure. As she turned she saw that the figure was coming closer. She was cornered with nowhere to go. The figure was a foot away from her and she froze in fear. Long, spindly, green fingers slid from underneath long black sleeves. The fingers moved upwards to the hood that fell over the creatures face. Grace screamed as she saw what lay beneath. The face was… not quite a face. The features were real but they weren't solid. The mouth hung sideways and the eyes were round but hollow. The chin fell far below the neck, it was as if the face was made of jelly. The creature opened its huge lipless mouth and appeared to be about to speak when a sound seemed to radiate from inside the creatures head. It froze, looking from Grace to a door leading into the building beside them. One more scream and the figure left through the door. Like, _through_ the door. Not even opening it. Grace felt for her heart as she was sure it had stopped in the fear. It took over ten minutes before Grace was able to move. She ran from the alleyway like a bullet and shot all the way through the darkened Manhattan to Jersey's house where she remained for the rest of the day.

'We have a historian with some information on your fiction writer.' The boss said over the clutter of his desk.

'Arthur Conan-Doyle.' Grace corrected him.

'Whatever.' He shrugged, sending a wave of fury through Grace's body. 'Your Colum is bringing in more views than we expected so we want you to divulge more information from the historian. Meet him in the café at the bottom of the street this afternoon.'

'Fine.' Grace moved with as much emphasis as she could before slumping in her seat and staring at how useless her life was. At quarter to twelve she made her way to the small cosy café at the end of the street. The door tinkled as she opened it and the cream and burgundy walls were comforting. Grace knew immediately who the historian was. There, sitting at a small table with one leg crossed over the other and a cup of tea in his hand, was the tweed jacket guy from the other day. Grace sat across from him.

'Hello.' He said in that same child-like voice. A playful grin still spread across his face.

'Again.' Grace nodded. The man extended his arm which Grace took and shook it. 'Grace Henderson.' She said.

'John Smith.' He replied shortly.

'Well Mr Smith,' Grace ignored the strange hunch in the back of her mind. 'My boss says you have some information for me?'

'Yes, I do.' His eyebrows raised, making him look surprised. His blue eyes swept the room before leaning in closer and whispering; 'I know you saw it.' Grace felt her brow furrowing in her confusion.

'Saw what?' She asked aloud.

'SHH!' The stranger moved in even closer. 'The Draued.'

'Are you talkin' bullshit or something?' Grace snapped.

'Creature, about six foot, green, gives the impression that it's melting.' He listed.

'How do you-'

'Saw it.' He shrugged, his voice becoming more like a hum. 'Defeated them once with dear old Queen Elizabeth.' He sighed reminiscently.

'Queen Elizabeth the second helped you fight the jelly-guys?' Grace asked.

'Not the second no. Never really met her. I mean the first.' His expression was expectant of something, and by the look of satisfaction that then crossed his face, Grace had done as he had expected.

'Are you pulling my leg?' Grace asked in confusion.

'Why would I want to do that?' The stranger asked. Grace sat bewildered at the stranger. He had often played in the back of her mind over the past few days and now he was here and she was asking all the wrong questions.

'Who are you?' She managed.

'I'm The Doctor.' He said impressively.

'A historian doctor?'

'A Doctor of everything.'

'A scientist?'

'Everything.' He whispered.

'I don't understand? How can you be a Doctor of everything?' Grace questioned pleadingly.

'I'm a time traveller, I've seen all of time and space. Fought monsters of different sizes, loved and lost-' A shadow fell over his face.

'Mr Smith?'

'I had these friends, Amy and Rory, they've gone now.'

'Where have they gone?' Grace wondered. The stranger paused. His eyes filled with un-fallen tears. He blinked them away.

'They've just gone.' He said tonelessly. 'So,' he changed his voice, 'these creatures need to be dealt with.'

'How?' Grace asked. The Doctor paused and sat back.

'We need to find where they live.' He stood up so fast that he gave Grace head-rush even though she remained in her seat. She followed him out of the door and down the busy streets.

'Doctor?' She called after a ten minute walk in several different directions.

'Hmm?' He said, stopping suddenly.

'Where are we going?'

'To find where the creatures live.' He made off again. 'They usually live in cold places, probably with few visitors around. Maybe some…'

'Doctor, I know where they are.' Grace walked into him this time as The Doctor halted too quickly.

'Then why didn't you say so?'

'I wasn't sure where we were going!' Grace defended.

'Blimey.' The Doctor waked past her in the direction they had just come from.

'Dude, it's this way.' Grace pointed to the alleyway where she had been attacked. The Doctor followed her into the alleyway where she stood in front of the door trying the handle.

'Locked.' She said downheartedly.

'Let me through.' The Doctor brushed her aside and pulled out a metallic tube which he pressed. The end lit up a shocking green and the device made a strange whirring sound. With a few seconds the door opened and The Doctor placed the device back into one of his inner pockets.

'What was that?' Grace asked as they entered what appeared to be the back row of a stage.

'It's called a Sonic Screwdriver.' Said The Doctor in an exited voice. He gazed down at the many rows of seats and his boy-ish grin spread wider still. 'I've never been to Broadway before!' He chimed. 'Well this is exciting!'

'Hold the phone…' Grace held her index finger aloft. 'You mean we broke into a _Broadway_ show?'

'Exciting isn't it!' The Doctor bounced on his toes.

'It _would_ be- if there wasn't a show starting right now.' Grace pointed to the bustle of people entering both sides of the bottom rows.

'We should be fine back here.' The Doctor flipped his hand as if to brush the problem out of the air.

'Yeah? Tell that to them.' The pair turned to see two bodyguards standing either side of the row they were ducking behind.

'Don't panic.' The Doctor whispered.

'Don't panic!' Grace exclaimed in an angry whisper. 'Do you know what the punishment is for breaking into a Broadway stage is?'

'Who said anything about breaking in?' The playful grin spread across The Doctors face again. He pushed himself out of his crouch and walked right up to the bodyguard. ''Scuse me, Sir.' The Doctor said.

'May I see your ticket?' The bodyguard said.

'Sure.' The Doctor chirped happily. Grace frowned at him as he went into his pocket and pulled out a wallet-like object. He flashed it in the man's face. He nodded and The Doctor beckoned Grace to follow him. She did with much confusion as they walked to two empty seats and sat down.

'What the hell did you just do to them?' Grace asked in a hushed whisper.

'I showed them our tickets.' The Doctor said in an obvious voice.

'But, what was that paper thing?' Grace's eyebrows were almost one confused lie across her head.

'Oh!' The Doctor said suddenly. 'It's called the psychic paper.' He pulled in out and handed it to Grace. Upon examining it, Grace confirmed that The Doctor was crazy.

'Dude, this papers blank.' She pointed out.

'To the well concentrated mind.' The Doctor said.

'To the what?'

'Well concentrated mind. To those who see things differently. Like that time when I met Shakespeare.' The Doctor shook his head in an impressive way. 'Brilliant man could see right through me.' The Doctor was silent for a moment. His eyes staring in the distance as he reminisced something from the past.

'Doctor?' Grace brought him back to the present.

'Hmm?' He said without moving his head.

'The blank paper?'

'Oh, right. The paper shows a person whatever I want them to see. Like just, I let the security guard see our ticket to the show, when really, the paper was blank.' He let Grace marvel over this for a second.

'So the paper shows a person what you want them to see?' Grace repeated. The Doctor nodded. 'So why can't RI see anything?' She asked.

'Because you see the world from a different perspective.' He said. 'Like Shakespeare for example. He has a brilliant mind, he needs one to write all those beautiful words, he sees the world in a certain way whereas others see the world as work and death. He saw so much potential in life. So do you.' The Doctor linked his fingers and waited for Grace to process the information.

'I think I understand.' She nodded slowly. 'Only slightly.'

'Well, we'll have to discuss it later. For now, we have an alien to send home.' He made for the steps up to the stage but the play had begun and there was no way of getting up there without being noticed.

'What do we do now?' I whispered.

'We go under.' He winked and slid into the gap underneath the stage. The space seemed to be a store cupboard of sorts. There were props covered in thick layers of dust that I recognised from some of the shows Michael had brought me to see. A stab of pain hit me as I remembered the good times.

'You go that way.' The Doctor pointed at a trap door far back to the right. I rolled my eyes and made for the door. Pushing it open caused me to be hit in the face by a blinding light. I made sure the trap door was closed before turning around and stifling a scream.


	3. Part 3

**Living in Manhattan – Part 3**

Grace looked upon the pile of oval stones and held her breath to prevent hysterics. Each oval was the size of a small horse. There were about seven or eight littered in the flickering candlelight. She stepped forward. Looking into one of the ovals she jumped back when she saw what they were. _Eggs_. Seven or eight gigantic eggs were stored backstage of a Broadway theatre. Grace turned back to the door to find it blocked by a monstrous creature. It had the same face as the creature in the alleyway but its body moved down into a long tail like a dolphins.

'Thought you'd take my eggs did you?' A voice came from the creature although its mouth never moved.

'No!' Grace cried. 'That's not what I' trying to do, I'm here to help! I have a friend who's going to take you and your eggs back to your planet.'

'We do not want to return.' A deeper voice came from behind. Grace turned to see the creature from the alleyway whose body also stretched into the dolphin tail. The melting features had not changed however. The creatures still gave the impression that they were made of jelly.

'You've been a very bad girl.' The voice at the door said. Grace guessed that it was female as the voice was higher pitched than the first.

'Whatever I did I didn't mean to do it.' Grace said quickly. Both the creatures were coming in closer. She was trapped.

'We can't go back to our own planet.' The male said. 'We'll be killed if we do. We're criminals, you see.' Something of a smile stretched over his melting face.

'What did you do?' Graced asked. The more she could keep them talking the more time she had until The Doctor realised something was wrong.

'We stole the crown jewels.' The female said. 'It would have been fine if that little bitch hadn't woken up and seen us.'

'What little bitch?'

'The Princess of course.' The male said. 'Stumbled out of her bedroom and caught us with the jewels and raised the alarm.'

'So she had to go. We had to stop her from getting the guards. It was too late. By the time she was dead the guards were there and they saw us.'

'But we escaped.' The male was closer to me now. 'We landed here and thought we had been blessed.'

'Blessed, why?' Grace kept them talking.

'This planet is protected, you see.' He began. 'Tales stretch through the stars of a man who never gives up until he has won.'

'A Doctor, they call him.' The female said. 'The man who changes his face. He likes Earth the most for some strange reason. We thought he would be on our case but as it turns out he's suffered a great loss here in Manhattan itself and he refuses to return.'

'A great loss?' Grace couldn't hide an interest now.

'Some friends of his were lost to time. That's all the stars speak.' The male said. 'But that's enough chit chat. Now, dinnertime.' They pounced and Grace braced for the impact. Instead of being hit in front and behind however, she felt herself being lifted from the ground from her side. Opening her eyes, Grace saw The Doctor had attached himself to a rope and had swooped down and saved her. Equipped with his childish grin he placed Grace down upon a rafter and looked back at the jelly people. They had collided with each other instead of Grace and had begun to fight.

'I thought they were mates?' Grace asked.

'They are.' The Doctor said. 'They're married, fights happen.' He shrugged and turned to face Grace. 'So, how are you?'

'I'm okay.' She told him. 'Just a little shocked. Thanks for savin' me.' Grace stared at her hands.

'You're welcome.' The Doctor said. 'Now, about the jelly-people…' He stopped talking and began to pace on the rafters. Grace looked down. Big mistake. She saw that they were high above the ground and felt her brain clouding. Her muscles tensed and she found it hard to breathe.

'Are you alright?' The Doctor asked her.

'Mmhm.' Grace said, not wanting to open her mouth for fear of puking.

'Grace? What's wrong?' The Doctor took her by either side of her face and looked into her eyes. 'Trust me,' he told her. 'I'm a Doctor.' Grace took a deep breath and admitted;

'I have a small problem with high spaces.' She said in a small voice.

'It's okay, it's okay. Look at me.' Grace looked into The Doctors eyes and felt a calm run through her.

'What do we do?' She asked.

'Follow me.' The Doctor pulled Grace off the rafters. It took all her might not to scream in shock as she and The Doctor flew down into the middle of the battling jelly-people. They stopped fighting and turned on Grace and The Doctor.

'Back for more, little girl?' The female said in her venomous voice.

'_Little girl_?' Grace said to The Doctor.

'Focus.' He whispered.

'Right, yeah.' Grace shook her head to clear it. 'I brought a friend along.' She said to the jelly-people. 'His name is The Doctor.' She smiled evilly as she watched horror cross the mismatched features of the two figures before them.

'The Doctor?' The male asked.

'That's right.' The Doctor said. 'Now, leave this planet or I'll zap you with my intergalactic ray-gun.' He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the jelly-people. They gasped in horror before they began to _laugh_! They were laughing!

'We are not fooled by your sonic device.' The female said. She thrashed her tail and sent Grace and The Doctor flying across the room.

'Well that didn't go as planned.' The Doctor said as he nursed his bruised head. The jelly-people left the room in a hurry but their bodies had reshaped into human-like forms. Legs and hair, they were still green but they would pass in the dark light of the stage.

'Come on!' The Doctor took Grace's hand and pulled her after him. They followed the creature down a corridor that was badly lit so they both collided with a closed door at the end of the dark tunnel.

'We _have_ to stop doing that!' Grace yelled as The Doctor threw the door open. This room was similar to the one where the eggs lay unprotected. Lit with a few candles and made of wood. Judging by the costumes Grace assumed this was a dressing room.

'No no no.' The Doctor said in a quiet voice.

'What is it Doctor?' Grace asked, but she did not need a reply. She looked down to see two bodies on the floor. One male and one female.

'Is it them?' She asked.

'No, but it is now. These were the lead actors in the show.' The Doctors voice was one of defeat.

'They're dead?' Grace asked, joining The Doctor on the floor beside the bodies.

'They have been drained off their life source. Those creatures are called Gloobas. They come from the planet Gloop. They can take the form of any living being but at a price that the subject has to die.' He sat back with his head against the wall.

'Who the hell names a planet 'Gloop?'' Grace said. The Doctor let out a small chuckle before something dawned on his face. 'Doctor?' Grace asked.

'The play, it's still going.' He said, listening to the dim hum of voices from the stage.

'Yeah, and?'

'How can the play still be going when the two actors are lying dead before us?' He said in a serious tone. Without hesitation Grace and The Doctor sprung up and out of the door.

'How would they know the lines?' Grace asked in motion.

'They must have been here for ages, I bet they know the words more than the actors.' They reached the wings and saw that the two Gloobas were on the stage and performing. Grace couldn't help but be impressed by the performance.

'What do we do now Doctor?' She asked.

`Stop the play.' He replied.


End file.
